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Agnieszka Sękiewicz‑Magoń Home Sweet Home

People have always built their houses to meet their needs, taking into consideration factors such as the weather or durabilitydurabilitydurability. The living patterns and necessities are different around the world, thus there are different types of houses to live in.

In towns and cities, we can see apartments - residentialresidentialresidential buildings rented to tenantstenants [tenant]tenants, condominiumscondominiums [condominium]condominiums - large residential complexes divided into units but owned separately by individuals and townhousestownhouses [townhouse]townhouses - a row of homes, usually occupied by a single family. In suburban areas, there are bungalows - small, single‑storeysingle‑storeysingle‑storey buildings, cottages - small vacation houses, spaciousspaciousspacious and luxurious villas with their own grounds, or even mansionsmansions [mansion]mansions - the most spectacular buildings with large yards. These types of houses differ in style and depend on the personal taste of their owners.

As far as culture is concerned, some nationalities have their own distinctivedistinctivedistinctive types of houses, whose architectural details are carefully passed on from generation to generation. A hanokhanokhanok is a traditional Korean house with a curved roof linecurved roof linecurved roof line with ornate designs. In Arab countries like Morocco, there are riadsriads [riad]riads, which resemble Roman villas with several floors, usually decorated with trees or fountains. In the Italian region of Puglia, there are trullitrulli [trullo]trulli - traditional dry stone constructions, which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List even though they are still inhabitedinhabited [inhabit]inhabited.

A lot of human dwellingsdwellings [dwelling]dwellings are built to take advantage oftake advantage oftake advantage of the elements around them. For example, plank housesplank houses [plank house]plank houses, which are typical for some regions of Indonesia, are built with cedar wood planksplanks [plank]planks. Their structure allows to collect rainwater, as their roofs are crookedcrookedcrooked towards one direction. Another example is underground housesunderground houses [underground house]underground houses which have different functions in different parts of the world. In Australia they make a shelter from the heat; whereas in the past, they were built as bomb shelters in the USA. Tree housestree houses [tree house]Tree houses are yet another example of mergingmergingmerging architecture with nature.

Climate is an important factor while choosing a particular type of a house. In hot places like South Africa, houses tend to have a round shape, for instant rondavelsrondavels [rondavel]rondavels - round,  built to save both space and energy. In cold places like Antarctica igloosigloos [igloo]igloos are still found. They are skillfullyskillfullyskillfully constructed out of compressed snow, thanks to which they block harsh winds and keep the dwellersdwellers [dweller]dwellers warm, as they allow a small fire.

There is also a group of houses built on water: stilt housesstilt houses [stilt house]stilt houses in Cambodia, which are raised up on planks in order to protect its  inhabitantsinhabitants [inhabitant]inhabitants from flooding or Venetian houses, or rather the whole city, built on wooden platforms and then stone. Let’s not forget about canal boatscanal boats [canal boat]canal boats, suitable for a nomadic lifestyle fans.

Finally, there are types of houses which are detachabledetachabledetachable, intended as easily transported temporary shelterstemporary shelters [temporary shelter]temporary shelters. The typical forms are: tipitipitipi - a classic tent covered by animal skins, wigwamwigwamwigwam - built by indigenous peopleindigenous peopleindigenous people of North America, with a curved shape created by wooden sticks placed as a structure and covered with canecanecane, straw, or tree barktree barks [tree bark]tree bark; yurtyurtyurt - a round‑shaped house covered now with waterproof cloth but in the past, covered with straw or pieces of wool. This type is typical of central Asia and is still used by nomadic people.

Summing up, it seems that the types of houses and their respectiverespectiverespective characteristics have always been connected to the natural surroundings and the needs of people.

1 Źródło: Agnieszka Sękiewicz‑Magoń, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.